Victoria is right. Our Sunday meetings will no longer be from 2-4, but from now on will be from 1-3. This is at the request of the manager of the restaurant who needs the period from 3:30 - 5:00 to prepare the restaurant for the evening meal. Also the blizzard of erroneous calendar notifications should have stopped since Yahoo Groups has upgraded the calendar function since July. At least I hope they have stopped. But the change over has not exactly been glitch free.

The first part of this Sunday's meeting will be devoted to two informative presentations made at the 2012 Retirement Research Consortium (RRC) Conference held in early August in downtown Washington. Nobel Laureate Robert Merton's presentation on best practices for household retirement planning and Sita Slavov's presentation on deciding if and how long you should delay taking Social Security benefits.

I think reviewing and discussing these presentations will be both very interesting and very informative.

Note to those who haven't been to prior meetings - We meet in the back of the restaurant of the Washington Plaza Hotel, 10 Thomas Circle NW, Washington, DC. The hotel entrance is on Vermont Avenue on the northeast side of Thomas Circle. Thomas Circle is the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, 14th Street, Vermont Avenue, and M Street in NW Washington.

BobK

In finance risk is defined as uncertainty that is consequential (nontrivial). | The two main methods of dealing with financial risk are the matching of assets to goals & diversifying.

BobK, Good meeting. I have a much better understanding of Merton's presentation.

Some DC Bogleheads may be interested in a presentation on Oct 20 from 930-1200 "Securing your Lifetime Income Stream," at the Alexandria Va Marriot Courtyard by Robert Carlson of the Retirement Watch website . It is not a freebee and will cost from $28-$38 depending when you register. the talk is sponsored by Better Investing ( mag of NAIC) and AAII. He is currently chairman of the Bd of Trustees of the Fairfax County Employee's Retirement System which has $3 billion in assets. It is the Saturday after the BH meeting in Philadelphia.

I do not know much about him, but one of his books is in a bibliography in the Wiki. Any feedback is welcome.

"Let us endeavor, so to live, that when we die, even the undertaker will be sorry." Mark Twain

Here's a video of Merton giving a very similar talk at MIT last year. This talk covers more than his talk in DC last month. So you can start at the 16 minute mark to see the part that's very similar to his DC presentation. This presentation isn't as long as it looks, because people at MIT asked lots of questions after Merton's presentation.

And here is a link to the Squared Away blog at the Boston College Center for Retirement Research. Lot's of good short articles on retirement including summaries of many of the presentations made at the Retirement Research Consortium Conference last month.http://fsp.bc.edu/squared-away-blog/

Given the quality of the material being covered, it would have been hard to screw up today's presentation.

BobK

In finance risk is defined as uncertainty that is consequential (nontrivial). | The two main methods of dealing with financial risk are the matching of assets to goals & diversifying.

bobcat2 wrote:1) Real life annuities allow one to price retirement.2) The level of real interest rates is of critical importance when making household financial decisions.3) Being willing to concede retirement outcomes at the high end of your distribution of investment outcomes can buy you a lot in terms of meeting your retirement income goal.4) The probability of being alive in a given retirement year is an important consideration when deciding how much to plan to spend in a given retirement year.

I would like to get clarification on #3, i.e., whether this only implies buying an SPIA, or there is more to it? As for #4, considering that the probability of surviving at each advancing age is decreasing, how practically to reflect it in one's financial planning? This also seems at odds with #3, i.e., if in the extreme one transfers all assets into real income, then there is no difference between the age of 79 and the age of 99.

I also expect that once we start discussing these topics, many other interesting comments will come up.

Thanks,Victoria

WINNER of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)

1) Real life annuities allow one to price retirement.2) The level of real interest rates is of critical importance when making household financial decisions.3) Being willing to concede retirement outcomes at the high end of your distribution of investment outcomes can buy you a lot in terms of meeting your retirement income goal.4) The probability of being alive in a given retirement year is an important consideration when deciding how much to plan to spend in a given retirement year.

I would like to get clarification on #3, i.e., whether this only implies buying an SPIA, or there is more to it? I also expect that once we start discussing these topics, many other interesting comments will come up.

Thanks,Victoria

Hi Victoria,I plan to be there tomorrow. I have felt all along that #3 is at least as important as the other three points, but that it in addition is the hardest point for most people to understand - and that includes me.

Bob

In finance risk is defined as uncertainty that is consequential (nontrivial). | The two main methods of dealing with financial risk are the matching of assets to goals & diversifying.

Our next meeting is scheduled for 1-3 PM, Sunday, March 17, in the back of the restaurant of the Washington Plaza Hotel, 10 Thomas Circle NW, Washington, DC. The hotel entrance is on Vermont Avenue on the northeast side of Thomas Circle. Thomas Circle is the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, 14th Street, Vermont Avenue, and M Street in NW Washington.

The first is on the long-term return of stocks and bonds globally since 1900.

The second has two parts. The first part is on the worth of Social Security and Medicare benefits to typical recipients. The second part is an analysis of the value of different Social Security benefit delay strategies depending on the level of real interest rates and how long you expect to receive benefits.

If you have additional topic suggestions you can post them here, or at the DC Diehards page on Yahoo.

BobK

In finance risk is defined as uncertainty that is consequential (nontrivial). | The two main methods of dealing with financial risk are the matching of assets to goals & diversifying.

Our next meeting is scheduled for 1-3 PM, Sunday, May 19, in the back of the restaurant of the Washington Plaza Hotel, 10 Thomas Circle NW, Washington, DC. The hotel entrance is on Vermont Avenue on the northeast side of Thomas Circle. Thomas Circle is the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, 14th Street, Vermont Avenue, and M Street in NW Washington.

StormShadow wrote:Hi guys. I'll be in the area and would like to attend with a colleague or two that might also be interested in learning the boglehead philosophy (or just hear from other boglehead folks).

Is that ok?

Does it cost much to attend the meeting?

It's perfectly OK--we have some new people at virtually every meeting. We meet at a restaurant for lunch, and so the cost is only for your meals.

Victoria

WINNER of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)

Our next meeting is scheduled for 1-3 PM, Sunday, September 15, in the back of the restaurant of the Washington Plaza Hotel, 10 Thomas Circle NW, Washington, DC. The hotel entrance is on Vermont Avenue on the northeast side of Thomas Circle. Thomas Circle is the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, 14th Street, Vermont Avenue, and M Street in NW Washington.

If you have topic suggestions you can post them here, or at the DC Diehards page on Yahoo.

I send out email reminders of our local meeting the week before the meeting via our Yahoo Groups page. Recently Yahoo upgraded their Yahoo Groups service. Typically this means they made it worse. This most recent upgrade is no exception to that general rule. I am no longer receiving the email reminders, but Victoria is receiving them. Are other DC members receiving the reminders this week? Please post here whether you have received or not received the reminders this week.

In checking the feedback section for Yahoo Group moderators I see that this now appears to be a widespread problem for Yahoo Groups since the "upgrade". I have sent my "helpful comments" on this issue and another faux pas of the latest upgrade to the Yahoo Groups feedback forum.

BobK

In finance risk is defined as uncertainty that is consequential (nontrivial). | The two main methods of dealing with financial risk are the matching of assets to goals & diversifying.

Our next meeting is scheduled for 1-3 PM, Sunday, November 17, in the back of the restaurant of the Washington Plaza Hotel, 10 Thomas Circle NW, Washington, DC. The hotel entrance is on Vermont Avenue on the northeast side of Thomas Circle. Thomas Circle is the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, 14th Street, Vermont Avenue, and M Street in NW Washington.

grabiner was unable to attend the Philly chapter meeting due to a personal obligation. We conveyed the status of his recent home purchase in the Washington D.C. area, which will be documented in a forthcoming thread. He will return to the Bogleheads D.C. chapter for future meetings. (Thanks for everything you've done.)

And thanks to all of you as well; I'll keep in touch with the Philly chapter in case I happen to be in Pennsylvania when you meet. (I am moving about 120 miles from the regular meeting place, so I won't be able to join you regularly.)

I don't know if he can attend this meeting, but we (Philly chapter) have none scheduled until Feb 2014.

To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.

grabiner was unable to attend the Philly chapter meeting due to a personal obligation. We conveyed the status of his recent home purchase in the Washington D.C. area, which will be documented in a forthcoming thread. He will return to the Bogleheads D.C. chapter for future meetings. (Thanks for everything you've done.)

And thanks to all of you as well; I'll keep in touch with the Philly chapter in case I happen to be in Pennsylvania when you meet. (I am moving about 120 miles from the regular meeting place, so I won't be able to join you regularly.)

I don't know if he can attend this meeting, but we (Philly chapter) have none scheduled until Feb 2014.

Just as the U.S. capital has moved from Philadelphia to D.C. so does Grabiner.

Victoria

WINNER of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)

dcrefugee wrote:Greetings and Happy New Year! Is there still a regular DC group that meets and if so when/ where?

Yes, we meet regularly on the 3rd Sundays of odd numbered months. The next meeting is on 19 January 2014, a week from tomorrow, at 1:00-3:00pm. The place is the restaurant at the Washington Plaza Hotel, 10 Thomas Circle, Washington, D.C. Please see the 1st message in this thread for the details.

Happy New Year!

Victoria

WINNER of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)